There’s been quite a bit of talk lately about Greta Gerwig’s upcoming “Chronicles of Narnia” film project. Reports have been going around that the filmmaker is upset about the idea that Netflix won’t give it a real theatrical release and will instead focus on the streaming. This has led some outlets to posit that perhaps the project is on shaky ground. Well, according to one of the producers, everything is moving along nicely and people might be surprised by how “new” the take on ‘Narnia’ is.
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Speaking on Deadline’s “Behind the Lens” podcast, producer Amy Pascal talked briefly about the upcoming “Chronicles of Narnia” project. The film is expected to be written and directed by Greta Gerwig, as her first foray into blockbuster filmmaking. Sure, she released “Barbie” and it did incredibly well critically and financially, but there’s a big difference between that film and ‘Narnia’ in terms of budget and scope. Regardless, Pascal hinted that the new take on ‘Narnia’ isn’t what people might be expecting.
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“It’s a very new take on ‘Narnia.’ It’s all about rock ‘n’ roll,” teased Pascal.
Obviously, we shouldn’t take those words literally. This isn’t going to be a fantasy film about a rock band in Narnia. But it does seem to hint that perhaps Gerwig has a fresh take on the source material in much the same way she brought to both “Barbie” and “Little Women.” We’ll just have to wait and see.
Pascal also mentioned that production is supposed to start in July 2025. So, it looks like everything is still on track to happen. This would make those earlier reports about behind-the-scenes problems seem misguided.
It will be interesting to see how Netflix handles the release of “Chronicles of Narnia.” It would be a real shame if the studio only released it in select theaters for a couple of weeks before it hit the streaming service. This is definitely a film that should be seen on the big screen. But we’ll see what happens.